Whoo-boy, sorry about the total lateness! I wrote this like a month ago and never bothered to put it up until now. Ahahaha! Well, don't expect another update too soon either.
Summary: Commodore Smoker is the untimely victim of a pirate captain claiming the ability to travel dimensions. When he wakes up, he must adjust to a strange and unfamiliar world inhabited by odd people known as ninjas.
Note: Takes place after the Alabasta arc and a little before the start of the Naruto Shippuuden arc.
Warning: Bad language
An Unfortunate Commodore
Ch. 2: The Moku-Moku no Mi
Throughout the week, Commodore Smoker was consistently surprised by the onslaught of the happenings of the strange and unfamiliar world he had been thrown into. The people of this land, despite naming themselves as ninja, used a strange energy called "chakra". They used it for everything: running, fighting, training, healing, and other things. There were also a great number of ninja that possessed a Kekkei Genkai – a bloodline ability unique to their clan. Tsunade suggested he read up on everything in the library so he could have a good grasp on how the shinobi world runs. Smoker merely complied, for he too was a tad interested in the way of the ninja. It was also effective to know how his new foes were going to be like, if he were to fight them. It was probably a damn good thing he was the only person with a Devil Fruit ability. At least that stupid Straw-hat Luffy or that annoying Fire-Fist Ace weren't here to agitate him further. That would be hell.
Smoker just finished a book about Konoha's history when Shizune came up to him. "Smoker-san," she began, "Tsunade-sama wants you to come to her office. It appears Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun are returning today."
Smoker slid the thick book back into its place on the shelf and got up. He followed Shizune out the door and they headed to the huge circular building at the back of the village beside the mountain of faces. His keen hearing caught a faint yell from the direction of the main gates, "Hello, Konoha! You haven't changed at all!"
When they entered the office, Tsunade and Sakura were waiting for them. "I heard Naruto-kun earlier, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said.
Tsunade and Sakura both smiled softly at the thought of the blond-haired boy. "I wonder what he's like now," Sakura said.
"We'll have to see, won't we? Come on, Smoker. We're going to see them," Tsunade said.
"The kid you were talking about earlier, huh . . ." Smoker muttered. "Your descriptions make him sound like an annoying, bratty hero."
Sakura laughed. "Well, he was kind of like that when we were all genin," she replied. "I hope he's matured a bit and not wearing a completely orange suit."
Smoker almost twitched. When he'd first heard about the exploits of this Naruto kid, he'd been disgusted by the fact that a ninja chose to wear such a gaudy orange color. What kind of ninja wears orange? Scratch that, what kind of ninja wears bright, flashy orange? For one, you'd definitely be seen in any type of surrounding, therefore ruining your chances of ambush. For two, you'd be begging for someone to kill you. Smoker might've done it.
They exited the office. Smoker walked behind Tsunade and Sakura. They weren't particularly headed for the gates, but merely ambling along the streets. Sooner or later they'd meet up with Naruto and his two teachers. Maybe even at Ichiraku's Ramen, his favorite eating place. Smoker had been irritated to hear that Naruto practically lived off ramen. If any of his men did that, he'd throw them overboard and send them back to the Navy quarters immediately. Especially since ramen was mainly only satisfying the carbohydrate part of the human diet.
"Whoa!" A surprised, young male voice sounded behind them. Sakura turned around first.
Smoker turned to see a blonde teenager wearing black and orange. He almost twitched again. Damn the orange. Damn it to hell.
"Sakura?"
"Eh? Naruto?"
The two reunited and older teammates stared at each other for a moment longer. They really couldn't believe how much the other had changed (mostly Sakura). She laughed and said, "Wow, I almost didn't recognize you! We've both grown up, haven't we?"
Naruto grinned. "If you say so! You haven't changed at all!" he said cheerfully.
Smoker and Jiraiya both thought in exasperation, Could this kid be any more oblivious?
"Well, maybe you're just taller than I remember," Sakura said, realizing in shock that her old teammate was now taller than her. He used to be such a short, scrawny kid too. Naruto reached a hand up and attempted to measure his own height.
"Naruto-niichan! Check it out!"
Smoker raised an eyebrow when a young boy with short black hair and goggles transformed into a voluptuous naked woman, with puffs of smoke conveniently hiding her private parts. The white-haired man that had accompanied Naruto grinned lecherously. Sakura looked revolted.
The young boy changed back, giving a thumbs-up to Naruto. "What do you think? I got that poof-poof part down, right?" he asked, grinning.
Naruto just chuckled quietly. Smoker was a bit surprised at the reaction. A lot of pirates he knew would've been all over the womanly form the minute it appeared. For this boy to be completely unaffected was not quite unthinkable, but it was unexpected.
"Konohamaru, I'm not a kid anymore," Naruto replied to the black-haired boy. He looked away, his original cheerful mood faltering. But what Naruto said next made Smoker slap a hand to his face and sigh. "That jutsu is so boring, Konohamaru! Watch this! My new pervy ninjutsu invention! Here it goes!"
Smoker heard Sakura whisper with a smile still plastered to her face, "New pervy ninjutsu?" And she punched him with an explosive force, sending him flying to the ground. "Are you kidding me?" Once again, Smoker was consistently surprised. By her looks, you wouldn't think she'd had such strength. He was well aware of how serious women could get when they were angry. Hina was an example. Tashigi was another. Nico Robin too. And he'd heard of Shichibukai Boa Hancock and her powers. Women were incredible when they wanted to be.
Sakura grabbed the front of Naruto's black-and-orange jumpsuit and shook him ferociously, "What the hell is wrong with you? We haven't seen each other in years and you pull a freaking stunt like that? Do you know how that makes me feel? Do you? And here I was thinking you were more mature!"
"Calm down, Sakura, you're scaring Konohamaru," Kakashi said, noticing the young boy who was hiding behind him.
Smoker reached for his cigars on his left arm and chomped down on two of them. He took a lighter from his pocket and lit the cigars. Ah, the lovely smell of smoke . . .
Tsunade had a cross look on her face. "Jiraiya," she growled. "Don't tell Naruto is becoming more like you."
From the way the white-haired man looked at the Hokage practically screamed "your student is the same". Smoker knew that Sakura was Tsunade's apprentice, but did that mean the Hokage had the same monstrous strength her student possessed? How terrifying.
Tsunade sighed. "Alright, the reunion's over. Kakashi?"
Everyone's attention turned to the silver-haired man, who snapped his book shut and took out a couple of bells. "Naruto, Sakura, it sure has been awhile. You two are going to be part of my team again, but this time as equals. Let's see how much you've both grown. The rules will be the same as last time, except that this time you will also be fighting against this man," he said, gesturing towards Smoker.
Naruto looked at the white-haired man that was biting down on two fat rolls that had smoke coming from them. "Who's he?" he asked. "I've never seen him before. Is he new?"
"There was a problem with his former living quarters," Kakashi said. The Hokage, Kakashi and Smoker had all decided that it was wise not to reveal Smoker's real situation. An enemy ninja could get wind of it and they could attempt to summon a person from an alternate dimension as well. That would be catastrophic to a fault. "We have decided to provide him with a temporary home until he is able to leave."
"Oh," Naruto said. The guy certainly didn't look like a ninja, so maybe he was a civilian? He didn't have a hitai-ate, further proving his point. But then why were they pitching him up against ninjas? Was it to test his skill?
Smoker ignored him. He had refused to show his power until this idiot and his teacher had returned, because it was better to give an element of surprise. Also, he needed to improve his reflex skills. Straw-hat Luffy had caught him by surprise that one moment in Alabasta. He could not allow that to happen again.
They walked to one of the training fields with three vertical logs jammed into the ground. Tsunade and Jiraiya had gone back to the office for much discussion, leaving them alone. Smoker watched as the two teenagers got nostalgic looks on their faces, as if remembering a distant memory.
"I remember this place," Naruto said.
"Yeah," Sakura agreed.
Kakashi looked up from his book to reply, "Oh yes. This was where you had your first survival test, wasn't it?"
"Team Seven . . ." Sakura whispered.
"The three-man cell," Naruto continued.
"Back then, we had Sasuke too, didn't we?" Kakashi commented offhandedly.
Smoker's eyes narrowed. Despite all his reading on the village, he'd never heard of this Sasuke person before, except briefly in a book describing the night of the infamous Uchiha Massacre. From the way the two teenagers fell to the ground emitting an extremely depressed air around them led him to assume that this Sasuke guy had either died on a mission or betrayed the village.
Kakashi clamped his book shut and tossed one of his bells to Smoker, who attached it to a belt loop. "Let's begin," he said, getting ready.
Naruto grinned, reaching behind his head to tighten his hitai-ate around his forehead. "Not going to read this time, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Or," Sakura added, pulling on her black gloves, "have you finished already?"
"No, I'm saving it for later," Kakashi said, pulling his hitai-ate up to expose a creepy red eye with three black tomoes in it. Smoker was startled by actually seeing the damn thing. He'd read about it, but never seen it. He discreetly bent his knees and got into a fighting stance, his hand poised to take the jutte from his back and swing it if necessary. None of these people were Devil Fruit users, so the sea-stone had no effect, but a weapon was a weapon. It was still a heavy bar of steel that could pack some serious damage.
The wind stirred through the area, jingling the bells attached to Kakashi and Smoker. As if that was a battle signal, Naruto drew several shuriken and flung them at Kakashi. Kakashi ducked and retaliated with a few shuriken of his own. Naruto leaped over them, but didn't expect Kakashi to fire a few more at him. The boy made a clone of himself and got pulled out of the way. The clone then transformed into a giant shuriken, but Kakashi grabbed the center and held his arm back. Another Naruto clone pointed a kunai at Kakashi's back.
Unexpectedly something hard slammed into Naruto's clone, which dissipated with a poof! Smoker slid his jutte back into place. "You're fighting against two people, boy," he said gruffly, grinding his teeth down on his cigars. "Remember that."
"You've still matured from before, Naruto, although you retain your impatience," Kakashi said. "Heh. Alright then. Go!" He disappeared with a pop.
Sakura checked all around her. Seeing no sign of her teacher, she raised her fist back, roaring, "Below!" and punched the ground, sending a mighty shockwave through the soil.
Smoker leaped out of the way in time. The girl's strength was unbelievable. Perhaps she utilized her "chakra" to summon such strength. Smoker could find no other explanation for it.
Naruto finally regained his bearings. He made another clone and they both charged at Smoker. He threw his giant shuriken ahead and multiplied them. Smoker dodged them, but the clone delivered a solid punch to his face . . . only to discover in shock that his fist went through the man's face, which seemed to be made of . . . smoke?
"What kind of ability is that?" he asked loudly, retracting his fist.
Kakashi and Sakura were equally surprised, having no information about Smoker's abilities beforehand (though Kakashi was informed that where Smoker came from, people got strange abilities from eating a forbidden fruit that was created by a sea-devil).
It was time Smoker showed his cards.
"Waito Baasuto!"
All three ninja gaped as Smoker's entire arm turned into thick white smoke that surrounded Naruto and lifted him into the air. The man then disappeared and reappeared above the orange clad ninja. He gripped his head and slammed his face into the ground, a spider-web of cracks spreading outward from where Naruto was forced into the ground.
Naruto gritted his teeth and forced himself to get up, but then found a heavy metal bar slammed into his chest. Sakura then came to his rescue. She punched Smoker in the shoulder, but the man merely dissolved into smoke, all the while not letting go of his jutte where it was holding Naruto down.
Naruto brought his hands together and created a clone. The clone aimed a kick towards the jutte, but Smoker quickly caught it with a stray tendril of smoke. Smoker punched the clone and made it disappear. Sakura punched the ground, which made Smoker's jutte crash harshly against Naruto's ribs. He made a choking sound, but took the opportunity to kick the man's weapon away and roll to his feet. He winced as he tenderly nursed his ribs. Sakura ran over to him and began to heal his bruise.
"So what's this ability of yours called?" Kakashi whispered when he appeared near Smoker.
"I ate the Moku-Moku no Mi," Smoker replied. "I can control smoke at will."
"I see," Kakashi mused. "You'd be very hard to hit physically."
Smoker grunted.
Kakashi turned to the two teenagers again. "You've had your turn, kids. It's my move now."
It was in the early hours of morning, just beyond the point of midnight, which found Kakashi and Smoker together in the trees. Kakashi was sitting down, having exhausted himself using his Sharingan. Smoker still had plenty of energy left. They both still had a hold on their respective bells. For Kakashi, the two members of his old genin team had become quite formidable. For Smoker, they were pitiful. It was like training a fresh batch of Marines all over again, only this time he was facing off against two teenage ninjas with different abilities. The pink-haired girl would never stand a chance against him. On the other hand, Kakashi had informed him that there was a technique Naruto knew that was certain to be able to at least blow the Smoker's smoke form away. But he was still no match for Smoker. What Smoker didn't know was Naruto's dark little secret. He would find out later.
Kakashi smelled his students coming and prepared for an assault. Smoker calmly bit down on his cigars as he readied himself to turn into smoke again. But the way the two teenagers attacked was unexpected and surprising.
What the hell are they doing presenting a frontal assault? Smoker thought in disgust. Are they planning something?
Sakura yelled, "Now, Naruto!"
"Here I go! Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, catching his teacher's attention, "Make-Out Tactics' final plot twist! The main character is really –"
Smoker sighed at the obvious trick as Kakashi clamped his hands over his ears and shut both eyes. He stole away Kakashi's bell before the teenagers could grab it and attached it to his belt loop.
"Okay, Naruto! Time for Plan B!" Sakura said. "Remember you probably won't hurt him because of his strange ability!"
"I'm on it!" Naruto said, making a clone pop in next to him.
Smoker watched curiously as the clone began to quickly make rotation movements on Naruto's outstretched palm. Naruto ran up to him and his palm surged forward. "Rasengan!" (1)
The swirling blue sphere of chakra rammed into his body, which had reflexively turned to smoke. The rotational winds from the sphere spun the smoke like thread and sent it flying in different directions. The strings holding the bells to Smoker's belt snapped off and the bells tossed about with the wind until they smacked into a tree and burrowed halfway through it.
When Smoker reformed, he found he now had a little more respect for the orange-clad kid.
"You guys sure have grown," Kakashi chuckled good-heartedly as they walked along the street. "I really didn't think you'd be able to take the bells."
"Ha! I've probably surpassed you, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, grinning.
"Like that would ever happen," Sakura said, rolling her eyes.
"Someday maybe . . ." Kakashi said, closing his eye. "I've still got some tricks up my sleeve. In fact, the other day I invented an amazing new jutsu –" Growl.
"I still haven't my ramen though!" Naruto complained to Sakura.
"Come to think of it, I'm starving too," Sakura admitted, placing a hand on her belly.
Smoker watched the exchange, sighing inwardly as Kakashi left in a puff of smoke. Tch, now I have to watch over these kids, he grumbled. He heard something about a date before Sakura saw two familiar people nearby and waved them over.
"Shikamaru! Temari!" Sakura shouted, pointing to Naruto. "Look who's back!"
Shikamaru grinned, "Hey, Naruto!"
"Shikamaru!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, putting his hands behind his head.
"Did you just get back?" Shikamaru asked.
"Nope, I got back yesterday," Naruto replied.
"Something seems different about you," the shadow-user mused. "You seem smarter . . . more serious . . ."
"Wrong answer, try again!" Sakura said, waving her hand back and forth.
Shikamaru sweatdropped. "Oh . . . really?"
"Sakura," Naruto whined.
Shikamaru looked over Sakura's shoulder to see the strange man he'd met a week earlier. "I see Smoker's with you," he said. "Does he have to babysit you or something?"
"Nah, Kakashi-sensei just left him with us," Naruto responded. "But he has a really weird ability! He can turn into –"
Smoker's gloved hand clamped over Naruto's mouth before he could say anymore. "It's dangerous to give out free information, kid. Keep your fucking mouth shut," he growled.
Naruto glared at him, but didn't say anything after Smoker removed his hand. His gaze wandered over to the duo and he grinned slyly. "So . . ." he began, "you on a date, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru stared at him with a blank look. "Not even close."
Temari scoffed, "Like I would ever. It's almost time for the Chuunin Selection Exam again. While I've been acting as a liaison between Konoha and Suna –"
"– I'm being forced to be an exam proctor, so I'm escorting the ambassador from Suna," Shikamaru continued.
Smoker turned his attention away as the teenagers began to speak again. He chomped down on his cigars and stared straight up at the sky, once again damning the bastard pirate that sent him here to hell. He would leave these twits to chat themselves silly for now. He had better things to do. Like finding a way to get back to his real world . . . and catching up on the current situations happening around the shinobi continents.
The next time Kakashi and his students met up, along with Smoker, who the Hokage demanded be a temporary member of Team Seven, Naruto complained about Kakashi's usual tardy routine.
"Sorry, I procrastinated on the new team's paperwork," Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head.
"It's our first day on a mission as a team again," Naruto said. "Aren't you even a little excited, Kakashi-sensei? You've haven't changed a bit."
"Naruto, he's just a little lackadaisical. That's who he is," Sakura said.
Smoker saw Kakashi look up and spot a hawk flying overhead. He'd read enough in the texts to know that birds were used to transport coded messages between the countries. Something foreboding must have happened. Smoker hated that feeling with a passion.
They went to the Hokage's office, where Tsunade read the details of their first mission to them. "Hell no!" Naruto cut in. "I'm not taking a mission like that!"
Smoker agreed. Where was the excitement in that kind of mission?
"Young man . . ." Tsunade growled, resting her cheek against her knuckles, "Do you know who you're talking to like that?"
A brown-haired man with a scar across the bridge of his nose sighed and smacked his forehead. "You haven't matured at all mentally," he groaned.
"My apologies, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said, smiling pleasantly on the outside while attempting to strangle her teammate. "I'll speak to him later."
As Naruto and the Hokage began to bicker, Smoker heard frantic footsteps just beyond the door. "Hokage-sama!" a black-haired woman called out as she entered the room. "Terrible news! The Kazekage has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki!"
Smoker watched everyone's reactions. Naruto at first look surprised, then angry. The atmosphere suddenly became increasingly tense as they seemed to relieve something dark.
"Those losers again," Naruto muttered. "Don't they ever quit?"
Tsunade placed the paper holding their previous mission on her desk. "Team Kakashi, I am reappointing your mission. You are to head to Sunagakure to determine the current situation and give me a report immediately. Then you will assist them in whatever they need," she said.
"Understood," the three ninjas replied in sync. Smoker just grunted.
1) The reason why Naruto didn't use Odama Rasengan is because they aren't in a real fight against real enemy ninja.
Chapter was 4000+ words long!
Akatsuki - Dawn
Akuma no Mi – Devil Fruit
Hitai-ate – headband
Hokage – Fire Shadow
Kazekage – Wind Shadow
Kekkei Genkai – bloodline ability
Moku-Moku no Mi – Plume-Plume Fruit
Nii-chan – older brother
Odama Rasengan – Giant Spiral Chakra Sphere
Rasengan – Spiral Chakra Sphere
Sensei – teacher
Sharingan – Mirror-Wheel Eye
Shishou – master
Sunagakure – Village Hidden in the Sand
Waito Baasuto – White Burst
MangaFreak15